...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...

After Steve Hackett left the band during the mixing of the "Seconds Out" live album in 1977, there were three members remaining in Genesis: Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford, hence the title of the album, '...And Then There Were Three...' Steve Hackett's absence is felt on this album with the lack of interesting lead guitar lines. That's not to discredit Mike Rutherford's guitar playing as he is a great rhythm guitar player. '...And Then There Were Three...' is a transitional album for Genesis. The band were moving into a more commercial direction which is indicated on tracks such as "Many Too Many" and "Follow You Follow Me." The band's poppy-era is hit-or-miss, but I still appreciate the fact that the band were willing to truly progress their sound, which resulted in an expansion of their audience. '...And Then There Were Three...' contains some of Phil Collins' best vocal performances. The first two albums he sang on, 'A Trick of the Tail' and 'Wind & Wuthering,' demonstrated that Collins was more than capable of succeeding Peter Gabriel as the vocalist for Genesis. That being said, he wasn't the most confident frontman. On '...And Then There Were Three..." Phil Collins sounds better than ever before. Unfortunately, Phil Collins in the eighties became overconfident and would frequently oversing.

The album opens with "Down and Out," which starts with atmospheric synths. A high note is played with chords shifting underneath it in a typical Tony Banks fashion. The music resolves into a guitar riff in 5/4. Phil Collins drumming is exceptional. Tony Banks plays a modal keyboard solo. The song ends satisfyingly with a Picardy third. "Undertow" is a gorgeous piano ballad that I used to not like as much but I now love it. "Ballad of Big" starts with Tony Banks keyboards that lead into the song. I like the change in meter between the verse and chorus. "Snowbound" is another song that, as of recently, I have grown fond of. It captures the magic of innocence with its childish melody. "Burning Rope" is the longest song on the album. The piano melody is grandiose and brilliantly utilizes modal mixture. The pre-chorus transitions beautifully into the chorus.

Side two opens with "Deep In the Motherlode," starting with a powerful chorus intro. I love the pulsating compound meter rhythm. The bridge section is atmospheric, providing a nice break for the band to explode back into the chorus. "Many Too Many" is a great piano-led pop song. The chorus provides a powerful juxtaposition from the verse. "Scenes from a Night's Dream" is the weakest song on the album, in my opinion. The verse to "Say It's Alright Joe" is slow and spacious, which beautifully contrasts the dramatic chorus. "The Lady Lies" is, in my opinion, the proggiest song on the album as it contains a theatrical vocal performance from Phil Collins and has a sinister quality. The guitar riff during the chorus is quite heavy. Tony Banks' synth solo is excellent. The last minute or so of this song is classic Genesis. I love the hemiola played between the piano and drums. Phil Collins drumming is as usual, outstanding. The album closes with "Follow You Follow Me," which is a herald of the direction that the band would go on subsequent albums. This is one of my favorite Genesis songs. It starts with the iconic delayed guitar riff. Tony Banks plays a pleasant synth solo. "Follow You Follow Me" is a delightful ending to the album.

In conclusion, '...And Then There Were Three...' is an excellent addition to any prog rock music collection. Outside of one weak track, this album is nearly flawless. I will say, there are certainly better moments on other Genesis albums that preceded '...And Then There Were Three...,' but this is album is fairly consistent in terms of quality of music. The band didn't know if they could continue when Peter Gabriel resigned from Genesis, but when Steve Hackett left, they knew that they could, even though Hackett was a significant member, as they all were. Many fans of the Peter Gabriel-era of the band see this as the beginning of the end, but after revisiting '...And Then There Were Three...' in preparation for this review, I can positively say that this was not the end of Genesis, and they would go on to release another great album and some, for lack of a better word, interesting albums. Highly recommended. 8/10